By Terry Miller
In 2011, Roosevelt Elementary School in Pasadena had its federal Blue Ribbon nomination rescinded due to an administrative test-taking error that was reported in October of 2011.
District officials called it “an honest mistake,” back then.
However, after an exhaustive effort to get the truth , local Attorney Dale Gronemeier filed public records request(s) from PUSD and additionally sent a letter to Superintendent McDonald regarding Roosevelt and the ongoing publicity at Madison regarding the teacher exodus as a direct result of an alleged bully of a principal who was appointed. In both cases, materials requested from Gronemeier have either mysteriously been lost or found not to be relevant, according to records this paper has read.
Now, attention is turning to Sierra Madre Elementary School which is under public scrutiny regarding the test irregularities: Gronemeier sent the following request to Dr. McDonald:
“Dear Superintendent McDonald:
On behalf of Pablo Alvarado and the Community Council for Empowerment and Justice at Madison, Gronemeier & Associates requests that the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) provide, pursuant to the California Public Records Act (PRA), copies of the following public records:
All Public Records that concern or relate to the reasons for the finding, as reflected in the Sept. 2, 2011, 5:13:18 p.m. email from Gary Carnow to a multiple distribution of irregularities at Sierra Madre Elementary School that led it to not be eligible for any awards for two years, including, without limitation, all complaints of testing irregularities at the school, all public records of the investigation or inquiries that led to the finding of irregularities, all interactions with the CDE concerning the irregularities, all emails, memos, correspondence, or text messages that discuss or refer to the irregularities, all public records which discuss or refer to publicly disclosing the irregularities and/or not publicly disclosing them, all public records, and all other public records that in any way refer to either the irregularities at Sierra Madre Elementary School and/or its not being eligible for any awards for two years.”
The District’s deadline to respond to Gronemeier’s request is Friday, Feb. 19.
In a July 29, 2011 letter to then PUSD Superintendent of Schools, Edwin Diaz, Rachel Perry, Assessment and Accountability Division of State Schools said:
“Your district reported that an adult testing irregularity occurred at Sierra Madre Elementary School during the administration of the 2011 STAR Program. Based upon the evidence available at this time, I concur with the district’s conclusion that a violation of state law and/or regulations occurred (per California Education Code Section 60605[g] and California Code of Regulations, Title 5 [5 CCR] Section 853). The California Department of Education (CDE) retains its authority pursuant to the 5 CCR Section 1032(d) to re-examine its decision should the CDE become aware of new information that might have a bearing on this issue.
“Based on your investigation and conclusions, the CDE will determine if adjustments to the school’s state and federal accountability calculations are necessary (per 5 CCR Section 1032[e]).”
Sierra Madre Weekly did hear from Mercedes Santoro, PUSD’s information officer, who confirmed that testing irregularities did, in fact occur in 2011 when it was reported that a teacher coached three students with test answers. There was an internal investigation which led to California Dept. of Education notification.
The testing instructor was retrained in testing procedures. This investigation disqualified Sierra Madre Elementary School from any state awards for two years. According to Santoro, the testing irregularities did not impact the API scores. The school is now eligible to apply for state awards, once again should the principal deem it appropriate.
